Premier League: Can Villa Bring Down High-Flying Everton?

Aston Villa vs Everton

Premier League pace-setters Everton head to the Midlands on Saturday to take on Aston Villa, hoping to keep up with the early league leaders with another victory.

Rafa Benitez is the latest big-name manager to take the hot seat at Goodison Park, a brave choice to bring in a former Liverpool favourite. But Rafa loves being on Merseyside and has settled in seamlessly as his new team has picked up ten points from his first four games in charge, scoring ten goals.

Next up, the Toffees take on Aston Villa, the team which lost their biggest name in the summer transfer window, but head coach Dean Smith has again spent heavily to mitigate any damage.

The Villains have started with a mixed bag of results and currently occupy 12th place, one below where they finished last season, and they will hope to keep picking up the points to steer clear of a relegation scrap.

This promises to be a fascinating encounter with home advantage levelling things up, as the Villains try to bring down the in-form Toffees.

Talking Points

Who are Aston Villa without Grealish?

Dean Smith is trying to re-invent his team at Villa Park. Without former talisman Jack Grealish, that’s some task; it’s fair to assume Villa would have been relegated, certainly in 2020 and possibly even in 2021, without the England star. But in a frantic summer transfer window there was nothing Smith could do to keep Grealish from joining title favourites Manchester City.

So he replaced him with not one, but four new recruits who can each do a job to be undertaken in the absence of the Claret and Blue legend. The most impressive signing is that of striker Danny Ings, who has two goals already to his name.

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La Liga

Just as Grealish inspired Villa, so did Ings with his former club Southampton, who would equally have been in dire straits without his goals and may well struggle this term. Ings scored 34 goals in 67 games for the Saints, his best return in the Premier League, though injury interrupted his promising career at both Burnley and Liverpool.

New recruit from Norwich, Emiliano Buendia, can provide the trickery that Grealish possesses while the return of former Villa favourite, Ashley Young, from Inter Milan was a crowd pleaser. Speedy winger Leon Bailey has arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, and he could get the fans off their seats, as can the retained John McGinn, who is Villa’s most influential player in Grealish’s absence.

Add into the mix the impressive keeper Emiliano Martinez and the towering defender Tyrone Mings and you still have a solid midtable Premier League side…without their departed star man.

At SBOTOP odds of 11.00 to go down, the Villains should steer clear of trouble, but they’ve had a mixed start to the campaign and may have a point or two fewer than expected. They started with a 3-2 defeat at newly promoted Watford and then, after beating Newcastle 2-0, they were held at home by new boys Brentford. A 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last time out was only to be expected.

Calvert-Lewin out for Everton

Everton will be without their star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but the Toffees coped admirably against Burnley on Monday night. After getting outplayed for an hour and going a goal down to the Clarets, Everton exploded into life with three strikes in six devastating minutes.

Everton are determined to claim another Premier League victory as they clash against Aston Villa — Andros Townsend celebrates scoring Everton’s second goal against Burnley at Goodison Park.

A Michael Keane goal transformed the game and after Andros Townsend hit an unbelievable second, Burnley were still reeling when Demarai Gray made it 3-1 with a sublime finish. That was Gray’s third of the campaign and he looks to be a shrewd signing following his switch from Leicester City.

I picked Crystal Palace as my Premier League Team of the Week, but Everton’s sensational second half against Burnley was something to enjoy on the Premier League 2021 highlights, and something to strike fear into teams throughout the league. Abdoulaye Doucoure has made an impressive start to the campaign with three assists.

They currently sit in a group of four teams at the top on ten points, but the early season Premier League 2021 betting odds pitch the Toffees at a huge price of 251.00 to win the league, which seems all the more attractive when West Ham and Arsenal are shorter at 151.00.

History

Villa have had the better of the head to heads, winning 19 of the 51 meetings in the Premier League era, while Everton have won 13 and there have been 19 draws.

Last season, this corresponding fixture finished in a 0-0 draw.

The Villains are unbeaten in five at home while the Toffees arrive on a three-match winning run.

Betting Tip

	Aston Villa vs Everton	Everton Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.20
	September 19, 00:30 (GMT+8)

With Aston Villa at 2.32, Everton at 2.89 and the draw at just over 3.00 you can take your pick. Villa are a strong outfit at home but the Toffees seem to be clicking nicely under Benitez so I’m edging towards an away win.